How the Semi-Mighty Have Fallen

Ten years ago everybody wanted to be M. Night Shyamalan. He had a hit movie in The Sixth Sense, a cool name, and a reputation as an Innovative Young Mind Going Places--an IYMGP, in Hollywood parlance.

Eight years ago most everybody wanted to be M. Night Shyamalan. He still had his cool name, his reputation was going strong, and, with Signs, he had made a respectable alien invasion flick. Not as good as The Sixth Sense, everybody said. But even John Ford didn't knock every ball out of the park.

Six years ago most people wanted to be M. Night Shyamalan, or someone like him. Cool name: check. Reputation: check, though a bit tarnished. In retrospect, though, The Village was a bad sign. It demonstrated that his twists were staler than the ones moldering on the back shelf of Dunkin' Donuts.

Four years ago a lot of people would settle for being M. Night Shyamalan. Yeah, Lady in the Water was absurd. Yeah, his IYMGP reputation was gone. But that name! And that sweet, sweet Sixth Sense money! So what if he was making films about narfs and scrunts and...whatevers?

Two years ago The Happening came out, and most people decided that they were perfectly OK not being M. Night Shyamalan.

Now...he's still named "Night," which counts in his favor, but everything else has gone to hell. Rest in peace, the directorial career of M. Night Shyamalan. You were like a shooting star--you were lovely at first, but the crash and burn was inevitable.